Birmingham City's Colin Doyle on signing up once more

COLIN Doyle has insisted that Blues can be competitive once more in the Championship.

COLIN Doyle has insisted that Blues can be competitive once more in the Championship.

Doyle decided to reject the advances of Ipswich Town and interest from the SPL to sign a new one-year contract at Blues.

And the goalkeeper said that, despite the financial troubles that have continued to bite hard, St Andrew’s was still a good place to be.

Doyle was in goal for the play-off semi-finals last season, when Blackpool squeezed out Blues.

“I think the Championship will be even harder, when you see three big teams that have come up in Charlton, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield, and then there’s the three that have come down,’’ he said.

“But what we won’t have is Europe next season and that is going to benefit us.

“We played a lot of games (63) and our squad was stretched to the limit.

“If we can manage to keep the squad together as it is at the moment and then we add some more players, we will definitely be right up there competing again towards the end of the season.

“The situation we’re in didn’t put me off signing a contract. Last year there was a bit of a fire sale and we lost a lot of players, but we still almost got promotion.

“This year we’ve sold a couple, but there were five players who were on loan who have gone back.

“So I’m sure the manager can replace them and bring in more to strengthen us.

“Certainly, I’m happy to be at the club and as players we didn’t really see what was going on behind the scenes. We just concentrated on our football – and that’s what we will do again this season.”

Doyle, 27, will be battling against wonderkid Jack Butland for the No.1 jersey. He said he welcomed the challenge.

Ben Foster’s sale to West Bromwich Albion and Boaz Myhil’s return to The Hawthorns after loan has narrowed the competition down.

“I know there’s a fight on there and I’m looking forward to it,” said the Irish international. “I will try to do my best to impress.”

Doyle added: “Of course I want to play – that’s my aim. There were other options open to me but Birmingham is a massive club. The facilities we’ve got are excellent and there’s a new manager now who wants to do well.

“My wife and kids are from here and we’re all very settled and having to uproot everything was also a factor.”

Goalkeeper coach Dave Watson, meanwhile, has said that the lure of the Premier League was a main reason for his exit to Norwich City. The Canaries also tempted him with a lucrative contract to link up once more with Chris Hughton.

Watson said he would be “eternally grateful” to Blues after nearly five years at the club.

But a previous taste of the Premier League and England duty whetted his appetite.

“That’s certainly no disrespect to Birmingham or the new manager, who I have known for a long time,’’ he said. ‘‘Lee Clark and Peter Pannu did everything in their power to keep me, but the lure of working back in the top flight was something I couldn’t resist at this stage of my career.”